The present invention generally relates to braille reading and, more particularly, to a system and method for braille reading using a fingerprint scanner and varying vibration frequencies.
There is currently no cost effective way to implement braille readers for the visually impaired in consumer devices like smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers and devices whose traditional output is a video display. Current solutions are not always effective, particularly for a highly specialized or technical vocabulary. Specialized braille reader systems like refreshable braille displays are expensive. Smartphone braille readers are unnatural and slow because they use the whole screen which differs from the more natural way of using fingers to read single characters. Some tablet based systems are effective for writing braille but not for reading braille.
Text-to-speech solutions are common and useful but they cannot cover all situations. For example, text-to-speech solutions often require a user to wear headphones for privacy. Text-to-speech solutions are also not adept at handling some words, especially technical or highly specialized words that may not be pronounced correctly. And, in some situations, text-to-speech solutions are not ideal because some users simply prefer tactile reading.